Thomas Cook announces rapid growth plans for China

The joint venture between Thomas Cook and the Chinese investment conglomerate Fosun will have served 20,000 customers by September 30, the end of its first year.

Thomas Cook China is aiming to increase passenger numbers more than 10-fold over the next year, according to its managing director Alessandro Dassi.

Speaking at the 2017 FVW Congress in Germany, Dassi said the company - a joint venture between Thomas Cook and the Chinese investment conglomerate Fosun - will have served 20,000 customers by September 30, the end of its first year.

"Over the next 12 months, we plan to grow this number by more than 10 times," said Dassi. "The ambition is to make China a sizeable market for Thomas Cook Group, comparable, over time, with our more mature source markets in Europe."

While the China travel market is large and fast growing, and represents the world's largest source of outbound visitors, it is also very competitive and fragmented, said Dassi.

One of the biggest opportunities for newcomers such as Thomas Cook comes from the rapid change in the behaviour of Chinese travellers, as they move away from traditional group tour travel towards a more independent and higher quality type of travel, he said.